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Who is Evangeline Motley?
From Researcher to Role Model


Evangeline Motley was born in South Boston, Virginia, which is located in Halifax County. However, she grew up in Dry Fork, Virginia, which is in Pittsylvania County and is located 8 miles from Danville, Virginia. She tends to tell people that she is from Danville because it is the closest city to her home.

She became interested in science at an early age. She wrote science reports about astronomy and grew plants in elementary school. She remembers learning about George Washington Carver and all of his uses for the peanut.

In high school, she took all of the science courses and thought they were very interesting. Since she was doing very well in those science courses, her mother suggested that she pursue a medical career. Other family members began to spread the word that she was going to become a doctor. While this put pressure on her to excel, she didn’t worry too much, because she knew her family would be proud of her regardless of her career choice. She graduated from Tunstall High School in 1976 as the valedictorian of her class.

College Years
Evangeline wanted to stay close to home and go to an in-state university. She had visited the University of Virginia in Charlottesville as a high school student and thought the campus was beautiful. She knew it was a very good school and felt it would be a rewarding challenge to attend this school. When she was accepted to the University, she was ecstatic. The academic level of the school was overwhelming. However, she rose to the challenge and received a Bachelors of Arts degree in Biology in 1980.

When Evangeline was still in college, a recruiter came from a pharmaceutical company, Burroughs Wellcome in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, to talk to the students about opportunities in industry. She was intrigued with his presentation and thought it would be interesting to work as a research assistant at a pharmaceutical company. It was then that she decided to work as a researcher and not pursue medical school.

After graduating from the University of Virginia, her first job was in a research laboratory in the Anesthesiology Department at the University of Virginia Medical Center. She did microcirculation studies in animals, thus giving her exposure to physiology. To learn more, she took a course in Anatomy and Physiology at Piedmont Virginia Community College. After being a research assistant for about four years, she decided to go to graduate school.

Graduate School/Postdoctoral Training
In 1984, she left the medical center to attend Howard University in Washington, D.C. Her goal was to obtain a Masters Degree and work in industry. When she arrived at Howard, she was told that the department preferred students obtain their PhDs in Physiology and Biophysics. It was ironic that she ended up doing her dissertation research at SmithKline Beckman Pharmaceuticals in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. She worked there one summer while a graduate student and it was arranged for her to complete her PhD there. She graduated in 1991 and went to the University of Cincinnati in Ohio for postdoctoral training. She remained there for 2 years.

Not the Job She’d Planned For
Dr. Motley had hoped to find a job in industry. However, the opportunity presented itself for her to take an academic position. She had said that she wanted to be a researcher and not a teacher. Yet several of her co-workers had told her that she would be a good role model for minority students and should teach at a Historically Black College or University. Consequently, she applied for a position at Meharry Medical College and was hired as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology in January 1993. In 2001, she was promoted to Associate Professor and received tenure in 2002. Her department went through several name changes over the years and in 2005, Dr. Motley was appointed as the Chair of Cardiovascular Biology. This was a short-lived appointment because in 2006, she was asked to be the Associate Dean of the School of Graduate Studies and Research. Just a year later, she became a Professor, and in 2009 her department name was changed back to the Department of Physiology.

Dr. Motley’s research laboratory studies the cellular and molecular signal transduction pathways in the vascular wall of blood vessels, and how the dysfunction of these pathways can contribute to cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis and insulin resistance associated with diabetes. More specifically, the lab studies the signaling mechanisms of G-protein-coupled receptors such as angiotensin II receptors and protease-activated receptors.

Dr. Motley has more than 40 publications in her field of research and belongs to several National Societies such as the American Physiological Society (APS), the American Heart Association (AHA), and the Endocrine Society (ENDO).

She currently serves on National Committees and NIH review panels. She served on the APS Porter Physiology Development Committee, which awards grants to minority graduate students. She serves on the AHA Southeast Affiliate Research Committee, which oversees AHA funding for the Southeast Region of the country. Dr. Motley is also an active member of the Minority Affairs Committee of the ENDO. This committee plans programs for undergraduate students in order to increase the number of minorities pursuing endocrine related careers.

Dr. Motley has trained 10 Ph.D. graduates and has taught physiology to medical and dental students. She also has trained many high school students and undergraduates as summer research fellows.

Outside Interests
For fun, Dr. Motley plays tennis, loves to travel, and reads books. She also likes photography and arts and crafts.

She enjoys participating in charitable walks for the American Heart Association and the Diabetes Association. In her spare time, she tutors elementary and high school students at her church.

Words of Advice
Dr. Motley’s advice to new investigators is to network with established investigators who can help you advance in your career. New investigators should try to identify a mentor and let that person help them build a career. She was able to obtain a five-year faculty development award from NIH with a mentor from Vanderbilt University. She still works closely with his lab even though she has established her own independent lab. New investigators should try and setup a laboratory on their own as soon as possible and generate extramural funding. Also, it is very important to network with other scientists to become a member of grant study sections and national committees.

Recent Publications
1. Watts, V.L. and E.D. Motley. Role of protease-activated receptor-1 in endothelial nitric oxide synthase-Thr495 phosphorylation. Exp. Biol. Med. 234: 132-139, 2009.

2. Suzuki, H., E.D. Motley, K. Eguchi, A. Hinoki, H. Shirai, V. Watts, L.N. Stemmle, T.A. Fields,. and Eguchi, S. Distinct roles of protease-activated receptors in signal
transduction regulation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase. Hypertension 53: 182-188, 2009.

3. Motley, E.D., K. Eguchi, M.M. Patterson, P.D. Palmer, H. Susuki, and S. Eguchi. Mechanism of endothelial nitric oxide synthase phosphorylation and activation by thrombin. Hypertension 49: 577-583, 2007.

4. Suzuki, H., K. Eguchi, H. Ohtsu, S. Higuchi, S. Dhobale, G.D. Frank, E.D. Motley, and S. Eguchi. Activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase by the angiotensin II type-1 receptor. Endocrinology 147:5914-5920, 2006.

5. Ohtsu, H., H. Suzuki, H. Nakashima, S. Dhobale, G.D. Frank, E.D. Motley, and S. Eguchi. Angiotensin II signal transduction through small GTP-binding proteins: mechanism and significance in vascular smooth muscle cells. Hypertension 48:534-40, 2006.

6. Frank, G.D., S. Eguchi, and E.D. Motley. The role of reactive oxygen species in insulin signaling in the vasculature. Antiox. Redox. Signal. 7: 1053-1061, 2005.

7. Ohtsu, H., M. Mifune, G.D. Frank, S. Saito, T. Inagami, S. Kim-Mitsuyama, Y. Takuwa, T. Sakaki, E.A. Woolfolk, E.D. Motley, and S. Eguchi. Signal-crosstalk between Rho/ROCK and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase mediates migration of vascular smooth muscle cells stimulated by angiotensin II. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 25: 1831-1836, 2005.